The first episode of Marvel's new show arrives this week.
Originally intended to arrive on Disney+ ahead of WandaVision, the stakes are higher than ever for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, considering the fact that - even with the full might of Disney and Marvel behind it - nobody predicted WandaVision to succeed to the level that it did.
Following on from that mish-mash of sit-com and psychological horror, FWS does feel like a much safer show, borrowing its aesthetic and vibe entirely from arguably the best Marvel movie to date, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Kicking off with a prolonged action sequence that will make the folks over at ExplodingHelicopter.com very happy, it isn't long before the first episode's two-pronged plot points are laid out, and interestingly (if a little underwhelmingly) they're both dealing with the day-to-day minutiae of being an Avenger.
After being blipped out of existence for five years, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) returns to find that his family in Louisiana are facing financial ruin, and while being Falcon is obviously a high-profile job, it isn't necessarily a well-paid one.
Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is suffering from a form of PTSD, his nightmares replaying the assassination jobs he did while he was the brainwashed Winter Soldier, and most of his screen time in the first episode is spent in a therapist's office.
Bizarrely, considering this series is set to run for just six episodes, Wilson and Barnes don't share a scene or a conversation at all here. Instead, we're shown how they're both attempting to survive in a post-Steve Rogers world. Wilson has a short but necessary scene with James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) about why he's donated Captain America's shield to the US government, and why he decided to pass on taking up Rogers' mantle. At the same time, Barnes is trying to make amends with the sins of his past, which causes problems for someone who is now just attempting to live a "normal" life.
None of it is bad, per se, but it also doesn't exactly make for exciting viewing. For that, we have to turn to a big bank heist which introduces us to the Flag-Smashers, an extremist group who preferred the way of the world during the five-year blip. There is also a last-minute introduction to the character who will likely be the real centre of attention for everyone in the show, but we won't spoil that for you here.
In much the same way that the first two episodes of WandaVision created the solid but, initially, seemingly low-key scaffolding that the rest of the eventually brilliant show would be built around, this does feel like a necessary foundation for what is to come for Wilson and Barnes.
The board has been set with some very interesting pieces, but the sooner we get to see these guys play, the better.
The first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier arrives on Disney+ on Friday, 19 March.
Clip via Disney Ireland
